Celebs from the big screen, the small screen, the stage and more made their way out to the Nokia Theatre here in downtown Los Angeles, CA yesterday evening to attend and participate in the 2009 GLAAD Media Awards … which honors achievement in GLBT visibility in the media. Here are a few photos from the awards show itself and some info from the glitzy ceremony:

Civil rights group GLAAD honored the movie “Milk” and singled-out Reverend Gene Robinson and comedian Kathy Griffin for their work at a Saturday night gala highlighting issues such as gay marriage and equality. Talk program “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” was given a GLAAD Media Award for its episode “Ellen & Portia’s Wedding Day,” covering DeGeneres’ wedding to actress Portia de Rossi. DeGeneres dedicated the honor to Carl Walker-Hoover, an 11 year-old Massachusetts boy who killed himself earlier this month because school kids bullied him and called him “gay.” “In my opinion, we are not fighting for gay rights, we are fighting for equal rights,” DeGeneres told the black tie crowd at Los Angeles’ Nokia Theater. The 2009 awards marked the 20th year that films, TV shows, performers and others have been honored by GLAAD, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. “Milk,” about slain gay rights activist Harvey Milk, was named best film. “Desperate Housewives” was chosen best TV comedy, and “Brothers and Sisters” was named top TV drama. GLAAD President Neil Giuliano spoke to the audience about the impact TV shows such as “The L Word” and movies like “Brokeback Mountain” have had on introducing audiences to all sorts of lesbian and gay characters and issues they face. Giuliano touched on marriage and said that despite setbacks like the passage of California’s Proposition 8 which denied gay men and women the right to marry in that state, progress has been made in other states where gay weddings are now legal. “As we learned in Iowa and Vermont, ignorance and hate does not stop the march of social justice,” Giuliano said. While many of the night’s speeches focused on social and political issues — as expected for the activist group — the night also featured a lot of comedy and music. Comedian Kathy Griffin accepted the Vanguard Award for her work in the gay community. She dressed in a bikini with a white, gay marriage ribbon, pinned to the bottom. The makers of video sensation “Prop 8: The Musical,” a parody of the conservative campaign backing Proposition 8, were singled-out with a special recognition award, and the musical number was performed on stage. The Right Reverend V. Gene Robinson, the first openly gay Bishop in the Episcopal church, was given an honorary award for his work as a religious leader and activist. Last month, GLAAD held a ceremony in New York City where it handed out other media awards. A similar event is planned for May in San Francisco.

I really love that the GLAAD Media Awards are handed out in LA, NY and San Francisco … issues of GLBT visibility are too large for just one ceremony. Much love and congrats to all the folks who work tireless to help foster and spread positive images of the gay community, pushing the boundaries of discrimination further and further away. The work is long and hard and nowhere near complete … until justice and equality for all is achieved in this country, the work carries on. Again, congrats to those folks who keep on keepin’ on. Click HERE for a full list of award winners from the LA portion of the GLAAD Media Awards. My dear friend Darion was able to attend the GLAAD Media Awards yesterday and he managed to get a fun photo with one of his fave celebs:

Don’t they look great? Kathy Griffin looks stunning. Trust me, Darion was geeked beyond words. Woot!!

[Photo credit: Wireimage; Source]

Here are a few pics of newlyweds Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi out for a nice stroll along the beach together in Malibu, CA over the weekend lookin’ as if they’ve been married for 50 years already (Ellen’s hat doesn’t help). The couple, which strolled hand-in-hand, happened to come upon dad Gavin Rossdale and his firstborn son Kingston James (who were also spending the afternoon together at the beach) along the way … check it out:

I swear to all things adorable, I really love Ellen and Portia together. They make such a great couple and they *always* look so happy and content when they are together. They are the perfect portrait of what love looks like. They compliment one another so well and I have a very good feeling that they are going to be together for the rest of their lives. Seeing these two find happiness together gives me hope that true love can actually exist in Hollywood. Hands down, they are one of my fave couples ever … they are truly an inspiration.

[Photo credit: Splash News]

Ellen DeGeneres has decided to generously share inside, intimate photos from her wedding ceremony, to her now wife Portia de Rossi, on her official website:

After the jump, check out a few photos of Ellen and Portia laughing, cuddling, sharing their wedding cake and enjoying a dance together …

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Here are a few pics of the very newly wedded Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi enjoying their “honeymoon” together just a few days after they said “I Do” to one another at their Beverly Hills, CA home this weekend. The couple showed off their new wedding rings, it looks like Ellen wears a simple band and Portia is rockin’ the rock:

Because Ellen has to begin work on the new season of her daytime talk show, the couple couldn’t jet off and enjoy a “traditional” honeymoon right after their wedding … but you may recall that the couple did enjoy a pretty extensive pre-wedding honeymoon-type vacay in Italy earlier this summer. Instead, the couple just stepped out together as wife and wife for lunch at Real Food Daily, which is a restaurant very near their home. I love it … they’re like an old married couple already ;)

[Photo credit: X17]

Mrs. and Mrs. DeGeneres-de Rossi are featured on the cover and in the pages of this week’s issue of People magazine. As y’all should know by now, Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi were wed this past Saturday afternoon and enjoyed a festive celebration of their nuptials at their Beverly Hills, CA home … this week, People magazine will be publishing the brides’ wedding album:

It was an evening of love, laughter, and a few tears for Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi, who exchanged personal wedding vows in front of their closest family and friends on Saturday at their home in L.A. In an exclusive interview and photos, DeGeneres, 50, and de Rossi, 35, share the most romantic moments of the night with PEOPLE. “What can I say? I’m the luckiest girl in the world,” says DeGeneres. “She’s officially off the market. No one else gets her. And now she’ll cook and clean for me.” Amid candles and flowers by Mark’s Garden, both brides, wearing designs by Zac Posen, sat on floor pillows along with author Wayne Dyer, who officiated the ceremony. After exchanging Neil Lane rings, the couple and their guests sat down for an all-vegan menu prepared by their personal chef David Silberkleit while Sweet Lady Jane created a vegan red velvet cake for the celebration. “The love we felt from the people surrounding us, and the love we have for each other, made this the most beautiful and emotional day,” says de Rossi. “And one that we’ll never forget.”

Aww, it sounds like it was a beautiful ceremony, I can’t wait to see the pix in full. I just love Ellen and Portia together … they appear so right for one another. They both seem like such genuinely sweet people and I am thrilled that they can now be an officially, legal married couple. Much, much congrats and love goes out again to the happily wedded couple.

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It looks like the report earlier this week from US Weekly magazine turned out to be true after all … the magazine reported exclusively that Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi were going to be married yesterday afternoon and, in fact, Ellen and Portia did get married. Here are a few pics of the lovely brides as they posed for their own photographer at their Beverly Hills, CA nuptials yesterday afternoon:

Ring the wedding bells! Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi have tied the knot. “Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi were married tonight in an intimate ceremony at their home in Los Angeles,” their spokesperson tells PEOPLE exclusively. DeGeneres, 50, and de Rossi, 35, both wore Zac Posen and exchanged rings by Neil Lane during the Saturday ceremony. Their big day also featured arrangements by L.A. florist Mark’s Garden. The intimate ceremony was attended by 19 guests, including DeGeneres’s mom Betty and de Rossi’s mother Margaret Rogers (who flew in from Australia for the occasion), who witnessed the couple exchange handwritten vows. The couple have been dating since December 2004. DeGeneres announced her plans to wed de Rossi during a taping of her talk show in May after California’s Supreme Court ruled a previous ban on gay marriage to be unconstitutional.

Woot! This is amazing and very happy news! The doubter in me didn’t totally believe that Ellen and Portia were going to be wed this weekend until I saw the Party Planning trucks arrive at their Beverly Hills home … then I started getting excited that they might actually do the deed — and they did! I am so happy for our dear de Generossi … they seem so right for one another and now that the great State of California has ruled that same-sex marriage is legal, I am just thrilled that they can show the world how much they love one another by entering into this kind of commitment. Much, much congrats and love to them both. I wish them a lifetime of happiness together!

[Photo credit: INFdaily; Source]

US Weekly magazine was the first to report exclusively that Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi are planning to be married this weekend. At first, I scoffed at the notion that a mere tabloid was able to sniff out the super-secret wedding plans of de Generossi but new photos of Party Rental and Event Designer trucks showing up at their home have got me on board somewhat with the US Weekly report:

Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi, 35, will wed this weekend in California, Usmagazine.com has learned exclusively. The pair are planning a small, intimate ceremony with only a few close friends and family.

Yeah, that’s pretty much all the info that US Weekly’s got … so you can see why I didn’t immediately believe that it was necessarily true. The party planning trucks, tho, seem awfully suspicious. It’s very reminiscent of the Wentz/Simpson wedding that happened earlier this year … rumor rumblings started up and then trucks and tents started appearing on the grounds of the Simpson manor and a wedding was had. Still … one can never be sure … do y’all think that the couple are planning to be wed this weekend? Are pictures of these trucks enough?

[Photo credit: Splash News; Source]